SERIES: DRUGS UNCOVERED: THE DOG HANDLER

Vicky Crawford: 'They're Trained on Heroin but to Them It's Just a Smell'

Vicky Crawford is a customs officer at Gatwick airport and works
alongside Jessie, a two-year-old labrador.

You get matched up. They try to pair your personality with the dog's
personality. It's like with people. You don't get on with everybody
and you don't work well with every dog.

It was working with dogs that attracted me to the job, not looking for
drugs. When you apply you're not aiming to be a cash handler nor a
drugs handler. You are a dog handler.

The average seizure through an airport is probably up to 5kg. A
swallower will swallow up to a kilo. A body packer will carry 2-3kg,
but you do get the greedy ones who'll try to carry more. A kilo is
worth UKP 40,000-UKP 50,000 so it depends how much the smugglers are
willing to risk losing.

How close does Jessie need to be? It all depends on which way the
wind's blowing. In the terminal there are all the air conditioning
ducts so she could smell drugs miles away.

When they find something they have a classic freeze-stare. They'll put
their nose on where the drugs are and just stay there. They point with
their nose. They don't bark, growl, scratch or bite.

She enjoys the search and is excited while she's searching, but it's
because she wants her ball and a fuss. It's a game. Dogs work for a
reward and we give them the reward they want.

I've got dogs of my own. One is a retired customs dog called Moss, who
was a bit nervous, and I've got another old dog - he's 14 now. They've
never met Jessie, although I'm sure they'd all get on fine.

People always ask: 'Are the dogs addicted?' The dogs are trained on
cocaine, heroin and opium, but to them it's just a smell. If we were
told to search for jellybeans, they'd be trained on jellybeans.

You can teach an old dog new tricks. This morning there was a heroin
job that a team had found, so we brought in all the dogs to search and
indicate on the sample. They need to build up their library of smells.
The older they are, the more rewards they've had, so the better they
are.

You get super dogs who have a knack for it. There was a famous dog a
few years ago called Badger. He was phenomenal. They're no different
from the staff, really.

Most people find it a novelty. Unless they're scared of dogs,
passengers tend to be pleased to see us out working and usually want
to pat the dog.

Some people are genuinely frightened of the dog, which is fair enough.
We wouldn't make them stand there and be searched if they are. I tend
to ask them to stand back while the dog searches the bag.

Drugs are often very well hidden. The other day we found cocaine in
statues. You wouldn't have known without breaking them open. Another
time, the dog sat looking at a bag and we found that the rubber
matting in the base had been impregnated with cocaine. It would have
had to have been extracted through some kind of chemical process.